Embedded Files
By Metta Sagurney
Love songs:
“Love Minus Zero” - Bob Dylan
“First Day of My Life” - Bright Eyes
“Love Takes Miles” - Cameron Winter
“The Book of Love” - The Magnetic Fields
“I’m on Fire” - Bruce Springsteen
Intro:
Hello Blue Devil Beat Readers! As I'm sure you’ve realized, the month of February is swiftly approaching, and while I know that Valentine's Day is a completely made-up and aggressively consumerist holiday, I also know that there is nothing more real than love. As far as expressing love goes, music is undoubtedly one of the best (and one of my favorite) art forms to do it. Obviously, there is no shortage of love songs in this world; however, these five particularly stand out to me. Whether you’re in love or not, I think that these songs hit just the same. So without further ado, I give you a collection of six of my favorite love songs! Much love and happy listening!
“Love Minus Zero”
If you know me at all, you know how dear to me Bob Dylan is. Dylan is my favorite lyricist of all time; everything he writes carries with it this wonderful power, like the wind his songs blow through you, leaving you different than you were before you heard them. “Love Minus Zero” is no exception. In this song, Dylan describes his love with a unique admiration. It's commonplace to hear a song about how beautiful someone is, but it’s rarer to hear such a vivid description of someone’s soul. What makes this song so special to me is the way Dylan describes his love’s actions, and the way she carries herself, painting a beautiful picture of someone smart, sure of themselves, and steadfast in what they believe. “Love Minus Zero” goes places that other songs don’t, showing, in my opinion, a deeper love than most songs.
Favorite lyric:
Statues made of matchsticks,
Crumble into one another,
My love winks, she does not bother,
She knows too much to argue or to judge.
“First Day of My Life”
Depending on what day you ask me, I'll tell you that this is my favorite love song. Conor Oberst is another lyricist I hold in very high regard, and the album this song is on, I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning, is one of my favorites of all time (it will change your life, please listen to it.) This song is so tender and pure; it tells a story of finding a kind of love that fits you perfectly, something that feels so right that you can’t imagine your life without it. Conor Oberst does a wonderful job of letting a little bit of fear poke through, because love is without a doubt one of the most terrifying things a person can experience. To me, this song feels like morning light coming in through a window. It is full of a magnificent willingness to try even if it means failure, a love that you’d put on the line for itself.
Favorite lyric:
Yours was the first face that I saw
I think I was blind before I met you
And I don't know where I am, I don't know where I've been
But I know where I want to go
AND
So if you wanna be with me
With these things there's no telling
We just have to wait and see
But I'd rather be working for a paycheck
Than waiting to win the lottery
“Love Takes Miles”
Everyone in my life is probably so tired of hearing me talk about Cameron Winter, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop. His insight and genius at such a young age is the kind of thing that will genuinely make you stop in your tracks; his songs leave me absolutely slackjawed every time. “Love Takes Miles” is his most popular song (off of his debut solo album Heavy Metal, released last December, another absolute MUST listen) and for good reason. It happened to find me at the exact moment I needed it, and has remained a constant since. It's not so much a love song as it is a song about love, the process, and the time it takes to form a strong, loving, genuine relationship. At the core of this song is the message that love takes time to appear, patience to realize itself, and effort to make strong: that love takes miles. No matter where you are, deep, real love will find you, but not before you're ready. In addition to this endlessly important message, the production and composition of this song is absolute perfection.
Favorite lyric:
Love will call
Love will make you fit it all in the car
“I’m On Fire”
This song is a relatively recent discovery for me, and wow, have I been missing out. Similar to “Love Takes Miles,” this is also not really a love song. At least not in the traditional sense of being written from one lover to another. Instead, it’s about a deep longing for someone, which is not necessarily reciprocated. Bruce Springsteen creates such an atmospheric emotion of needing someone so desperately that it consumes you, a wanting that creeps all the way through you and into your bones, like a cold rain. He does this by choosing to give the song an incredibly hollow, haunting sound, as well as his word choice, with some truly poignient lyrics that encapsulate what it feels like to want someone that badly. This is a song that leaves behind a kind of residue on its listener. It stays with you for a while, drifting around in your head, lingering like the ache it describes.
Favorite lyric:
Sometimes it's like someone took a knife baby
Edgy and dull and cut a six-inch valley
Through the middle of my skull
“The Book of Love”
Having to pick just one from an album of over sixty love songs was an incredible challenge, especially considering that I love all of them. In the end, I chose “The Book of Love” because it shows the other side of the coin, that love is an incredibly simple thing. When you find someone whom you love and care about so intensely, everything comes easily. I thought that this gave a good contrast to most of the other songs on this list because while they present love with remarkable depth, this song includes an equally real side of love, and the two often coexist. This song also advises against following the societal rules of relationships because all that really matters is in the end is the two of you, and the love that you share. The composition and production also play a large role in the emotion that this song carries, beautiful and melodic, evocative of the safety of a healthy relationship.
Favorite lyric:
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